# 504 Gateway Timeout **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 27, 2008, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/504-gateway-timeout/450743 "2008-05-27T10:53:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/504-gateway-timeout/450743/1 "2008-05-27T10:53:02Z")
I have recently started getting a large number of these errors - fairly randomly, I will be surfing the SDMB for example and will open up several threads, most of which open, one of which returns: > [@](#): > > Gateway Timeout > The following error occurred: > > [code=GATEWAY\_TIMEOUT] A gateway timeout occurred. The server is unreachable. Retry the request. Sometimes a refresh is all that’s needed, othertimes, the page will not load, although others continue to load around it. Googling the phrase doesn’t offer much in the way of help, I have rebooted the router and renewed my IP without success. Any help/advice appreciated… Grim ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/504-gateway-timeout/450743/2 "2008-05-27T10:59:12Z")
It’s more than likely something closer to the SD server than to you. If your internet connection requires you to use a proxy server (or you’re using one for some other reason), it could be a problem with that. Otherwise, probably not much you can do about it, AFAIK. [http://www.checkupdown.com/status/E504.html](http://www.checkupdown.com/status/E504.html) ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/504-gateway-timeout/450743/3 "2008-05-27T14:47:35Z")
Hmmm - from your quote: > [@](#): > > … there is nothing you can do to sort them out. We then have to liaise with your ISP and the vendor of your Web server software so that they can review the flow of IP data traffic between various computers under their control. However this is not an easy error to sort out, because the ebb and flow of Internet traffic makes this type of error very transient. Email sent to my ISP, let’s see if they bother responding!! Thanks Grim ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/504-gateway-timeout/450743/4 "2008-05-27T14:49:52Z")
Is it more common on some sites than others? (I originally read your question as being a problem with this site, while others continue working). ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/504-gateway-timeout/450743/5 "2008-05-27T19:50:54Z")
No - seems to be totally random. The ISP did respond and gave me specific DNS servers and a proxy server to use, since then I haven’t had a problem, but there was no pattern before, so I’ll wait and see. Grim ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/504-gateway-timeout/450743/6 "2008-05-28T03:56:24Z")
I reckon that will fix it - to me it sounded like a dodgy DNS server. ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2008, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/504-gateway-timeout/450743/7 "2008-05-28T16:34:08Z")
Strangely enough, shortly after changing to the specified servers, I had a new problem - the generic “Internet Explorer cannot find the page specified” which I resolved by reverting to automatic DNS and removing the proxy server… 😕 So far, so good…